Talk of the Town

Photographer Adam Quarrell spent the 2003 season following the Mighty Demons, the North Hobart Football Club, with his camera. The highs and lows are all here.

Hollywood gets the call

Don Stephens photograph

Movie studio Warner Bros, which earned million of dollars from its Tasmanian devil cartoon character “Taz,” has now been asked to help save his real-life cousins that are being decimated by facial cancer.

Tasmanian devils on Australia’s southern island state of Tasmania, the only place where these carnivorous marsupials are found in the wild, are being wiped out, with grossly disfigured animals dying within months of contracting the disease.

Environmentalists have approached the Hollywood studio to help raise funds to battle the disease, which has probably killed between a third and a half of the Tasmanian devil population in the past five to 10 years. Only about 70,000 to 80,000 remain.

“We are in discussions with the folks in Tasmania to see what we might be able to do to help,” Warner Bros spokeswoman Barbara Brogliatti told Reuters.

Tasmanian wildlife biologist Nick Mooney fears there is little that can be done to stop the spread of the cancer.

“It is likely that in another five years that 80 percent or more of the state population or more will have been affected and there is probably nothing we can do about that,” he said.

ABC TV tunes in

Geoff Murray’s fabulous wilderness portfolio — featured here in our launch issue — has made a big impression. The ABC is featuring Geoff in George Negus Tonight at 6.30pm on April 28. The video editor emailed Geoff with this deserved compliment: "I have to say that they are stunningly beautiful images … and I see 25 images a second, 40 hours a week …"

Not the Full Squid

The amazing story of the Giant Squid has often been distorted by myth and fable. We dive deep for the facts here.

The Tree Hugs Project

Artist Dawn Csutoros tells the intriguing story of the year-long Tree Hugs Project which got Tasmania knitting to help save the old-growth forests of The Styx Valley. Read more here.

Jessie Luckman: wilderness pioneer

Geoff Law talks to Jessie Luckman AO, who joined the Hobart Walking Club in 1936 and, when he spoke to her in her 90s, was still a member. Jessie fought to protect the wonderful untrod wilderness she helped explore.

Some causes were lost but others, like the fight to save the Franklin, were won. Read more here.

A Time to Eat

Paul County’s award-winning photographs of Tasmania’s flamboyant restaurateurs, waiters, and bon vivants makes for fascinating viewing in this portfolio. Find out more here.

Cake Decorating Shop

The Cake Decorating Shop is a family affair, at 4 Cascade Street, South Hobart, with home-made cakes and biscuits that you might not have time to make yourself.

Closed on Sunday and Monday but open from 10am to 5pm for the rest of the week.

A specialty is delicious, real, sponge cakes in vanilla and chocolate, unfilled — create your own spectacular with your choice of filling.

You may need to call ahead to be sure of getting one, although there are usually some frozen and they thaw extremely well. The rock cakes are delectable and you will also find a variety of biscuits at reasonable prices for great quality. (03) 6224 0722, — JS

The Flower Room

The Flower Room, upstairs at 147 Liverpool Street, is one of the few co-operatives in Hobart and it sells ﬂowers in season at very reasonable prices.

Better still, you’ll ﬁnd blooms that are not always available at ﬂorist’s — such as roses that are perfumed and bunches of divine smelling sweet peas. Fresh seasonal fruit and vegies are also available, along with golden-yolked free range eggs and Lucaston

Park Apple Juice at a price as tempting as its taste. It pays to shop early, as supplies go very quickly.

It opens from 8.30am until sold out, which is sometimes as early as 11.30 the same morning. Phone if you wish to have something kept for you or to order in advance. (03) 6223 2744. — JS

Syndicate

Stanton Bed and Breakfast
The magnificent convict-built country manor, Stanton, was built in 1817, and is situated on one of Tasmania's first land grant sites — 16 acres of pasture and orchards at Magra, in the heart of the historical and beautiful Derwent Valley.

Red Tag Trout Tours
Roger Butler leads this one-man Tasmanian guiding operation which caters to flyfishers, from all over the world, who share a common goal: getting a wild brown trout to hand.